Star Tours

Reynaud “Château des Tours” 1998 Vacqueyras “Réserve” (Rhône) – Open several days, with a few glasses absent by the time I get to it. Darkly concentrated blackberry and even darker smoke liqueur, with a counterpoint of walnut soda. Open-ended, by which I mean the initial impression of fruit does a reverse dovetail and leaves an ever-increasing gap as the wine progresses towards the finish. A fruit microbomb, not sophisticated in the least, but not truly explosive either. Freshly-opened bottles have been impenetrable, and given the state of this wine I see absolutely no reason to open any more at this stage. (2/09)